via University of Cambridge
Researchers have developed self-healing, biodegradable, 3D-printed materials that could be used in the development of realistic artificial hands and other soft robotics applications.
The low-cost jelly-like materials, developed by researchers at the University of Cambridge, can sense strain, temperature and humidity. And unlike earlier self-healing robots, they can also partially repair themselves at room temperature.
The results are reported in the journal NPG Asia Materials.
Soft sensing technologies could transform robotics, tactile interfaces and wearable devices, among other applications. However, most soft sensing technologies aren’t durable and consume high amounts of energy.
“Incorporating soft sensors into robotics allows us to get a lot more information from them, like how strain on our muscles allows our brains to get information about the state of our bodies,” said David Hardman from Cambridge’s Department of Engineering, the paper’s first author.
As part of the EU-funded SHERO project, Hardman and his colleagues have been working to develop soft sensing, self-healing materials for robotic hands and arms. These materials can detect when they are damaged, take the necessary steps to temporarily heal themselves and then resume work – all without the need for human interaction.
“We’ve been working with self-healing materials for several years, but now we’re looking into faster and cheaper ways to make self-healing robots,” said co-author Dr Thomas George-Thuruthel, also from the Department of Engineering.
Earlier versions of the self-healing robots needed to be heated in order to heal, but the Cambridge researchers are now developing materials that can heal at room temperature, which would make them more useful for real-world applications.
“We started with a stretchy, gelatine-based material which is cheap, biodegradable and biocompatible and carried out different tests on how to incorporate sensors into the material by adding in lots of conductive components,” said Hardman.
The researchers found that printing sensors containing sodium chloride – salt – instead of carbon ink resulted in a material with the properties they were looking for. Since salt is soluble in the water-filled hydrogel, it provides a uniform channel for ionic conduction – the movement of ions.
When measuring the electrical resistance of the printed materials, the researchers found that changes in strain resulted in a highly linear response, which they could use to calculate the deformations of the material. Adding salt also enabled sensing of stretches of more than three times the sensor’s original length, so that the material can be incorporated into flexible and stretchable robotic devices.
The self-healing materials are cheap and easy to make, either by 3D printing or casting. They are preferable to many existing alternatives since they show long-term strength and stability without drying out, and they are made entirely from widely available, food-safe, materials.
“It’s a really good sensor considering how cheap and easy it is to make,” said George-Thuruthel. “We could make a whole robot out of gelatine and print the sensors wherever we need them.”
The self-healing hydrogels bond well with a range of different materials, meaning they can easily be incorporated with other types of robotics. For example, much of the research in the Bio-Inspired Robotics Laboratory, where the researchers are based, is focused on the development of artificial hands. Although this material is a proof-of-concept, if developed further, it could be incorporated into artificial skins and custom-made wearable and biodegradable sensors.
Original Article: Self-healing materials for robotics made from ‘jelly’ and salt
More from: University of Cambridge
The Latest Updates from Bing News & Google News
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Self-healing robots
- Boston Dynamics retires original ‘Atlas’ humanoid robot after more than 10 years
More than a decade after its introduction, the hydraulic Atlas has been retired, and the fully electric Atlas is set to begin its journey in the real world with automaker Hyundai.
- The 6 best robot lawn mowers in 2024 are here to make your Roomba jealous
Hate mowing your lawn? Well now you can let a robot do it for you. Check out these latest robotic lawn mowers.
- The best robot vacuums on Amazon in 2024 will clean dirt without cleaning you out
The Shark AV2501S robot vacuum maps your home, cleaning it in a precise matrix grid. Its self-emptying base holds up to 30 days' worth of dirt and debris. You can set a cleaning schedule or ...
- Coming soon, to a theater near you: Self-serve cocktails, cotton candy robots
the solution might be found in self-serve cocktail dispensers powered by facial recognition. Or, possibly, robots that make cotton candy. Or it could be as simple as realistically detailed drink ...
- 'SMART project' brings together brilliant robotic minds to transform tomorrow
Science X is a network of high quality websites with most complete and comprehensive daily coverage of the full sweep of science, technology, and medicine news ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Self-healing robots
[google_news title=”” keyword=”self-healing robots” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
Go deeper with Bing News on:
Self-healing materials
- Polydimethylsiloxane Market: Unveiling Lucrative Opportunities in Medical, Cosmetics, and Self-Healing Composites
The global polydimethylsiloxane market is anticipated to create lucrative growth opportunities over the assessment period from 2022 to 2032. The global market held a valuation of US$ 1,533.7 Million ...
- Revolutionary molecular device unveiled for targeted drug delivery and self-healing materials
Additionally, this breakthrough holds promise for self-healing materials that can repair themselves in situ when damaged, thereby extending the lifespan of these materials, such as fixing a scratch on ...
- Mechanochemistry strips cargo molecules from a loaded rotaxane
Researchers have previously used this strategy to release fluorescent molecules to signal damage in a material. In solution, bursts of ultrasound have the same mechanochemical effect. But each ...
- Novel Molecular Device Controls Release of Multiple Small Molecules Using Force
In a new breakthrough that could revolutionize medical and material engineering, scientists have developed a first-of-its-kind molecular device that controls the release of multiple small molecules ...
- The Future of Solar Cells and More – Japanese Chemists Develop Glowing, Self-Healing Material
A research team at the RIKEN Center for Sustainable Resource Science (CSRS) has succeeded in developing a self-healing material that is also capable of emitting a high amount of fluorescence when ...
Go deeper with Google Headlines on:
Self-healing materials
[google_news title=”” keyword=”self-healing materials” num_posts=”5″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]